The petroleum industry has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. The industry is one of the major contributors to the South African GDP. In recent years, increases in petrol price created a huge challenge for the service station retailers to run sustainable, profitable and viable businesses, as the price increases impacted negatively on sales volumes. The new entrants in the market and new competition from other retail businesses necessitated changes in the industry. The petroleum industry introduced new business centres at the service stations to generate revenue for the business to ensure profitability and viability. The proliferation of service stations, regulated retailer margins on petrol and volume performance have all created concerns about the survival of individual service stations. The effects of crude oil price fluctuations on the economy ultimately affect the motorists and retailers. The South African petrol price largely depends on international market conditions. The industry faces change and challenges. The future uncertainty of the supply of exhaustible resources like crude oil impacts on the crude price experienced by the global market. The energy demand thus exerts another pressure on price as the world economy grows rapidly. The uncertainty about whether to deregulate the liquid fuel industry adds a new dimension to the industry’s future. The study focus area highlights findings which can be extrapolated to other similar cities in South Africa. At the end of the day, a retail operator should know the businesses very well as the profit margins are fixed.
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